I have decided to crank up the discussion and start a conversation about parent engagement as some teachers might see it. You know the thoughts that teachers think but don’t share. How would it look for teachers to openly criticize parents. Teachers are a professional lot and the only time you would hear thoughts uttered would be in the staff room or over a cold beer. Sitting in the staff room I hear things like. “If one more parent jumps down my throat over how I gave their kid a “C” and not a “B” I am going to scream!”. Why won’t they take my word for it the child’s work was a “C”.
I just heard this one. “they keep drumming up new ideas for awards for kids because some parent thought their child deserved one of their own.” or “Mrs. Brown (I apologize to all the Browns in the world) would not let up, doesn’t she know her son just cannot play volleyball and that is why he didn’t make the team?” This one should resonate. “One of the hardest things I have to do as a teacher is deal with the parents.”
If there is a teacher out there who wants to add to the list, please do. Alright I am kidding. I don’t expect you to put your job on the line. There has to be some things you don’t talk about in public. But I am right? Yes? They keep pushing for more parent involvement – excuse me – more parent engagement and yet teachers are wondering what they are supposed to do. They send home notes, ask for volunteers, arrange curriculum night, parent teacher interviews, ask parents to check agendas. At what point are parents going to take their responsibilities as a parent serious and come to parent teacher interviews. At what point are parents going to make school work as big a priority as winning the hockey game? At what point are they going to support the teacher?
Well those are pretty loaded questions. But here is a good article to ponder and ask what are parents thinking when they allow unchaperoned parties.
From Herald-Mail.com
“The attitude about teen pregnancy is that it’s just something that happens,” Lourie said. “It should not happen. We have to keep the message going that children should not be having children.”
Locally, Lourie said, surveys show that the average age of a teen’s first sexual experience is 15.
Most parents of sexually active teens say they are unaware that their teenage children have had sex, she said.
“They don’t want to know,” she said. “They’re in denial. We can’t solve the county’s teen birth rate without the help of parents.”
Lourie said the Washington County teen birth rate has fluctuated over the past 10 years. In 1997, the rate was 59.5. It dropped to 52.4 in 1998 but rose again in 1999 to 58.1. The birth rate was at 45 in 2003 but rose again in 2006 to 48.9.
Without parental and community involvement, those statistics could continue to rise, she said.
“I think we need to have parents more concerned about being a parent than being their teen’s friend,” she said. “We’re hearing about teenagers having unsupervised parties, parents not knowing where their children are. Those children need good adult role models in their lives, whether it’s a parent, a teacher, a pastor or a youth leader. They have to learn how to make the right choices.”
“The thought process we’re trying to mobilize with parents, and throughout the community, is that we all have a role in reducing teen pregnancies,” she said. “We shouldn’t let the topic fall off the table.”
I’m open to suggestions parents. Should you be telling the teacher what grade your child deserves? When homework is too much homework? Are you sipping coffee at the arena when 5:00 am practice makes your child too sleepy in class to learn? Do you leave some of your parenting responsibilities up to the teacher?
What can be done to engage more parents? There won’t be many teachers “coming out” and telling it as it is. Come on parents what are you doing to be an involved parent or is this all really the “phrase of the day?
I’m sure that teachers are wishing some one would step up to the plate and give us some answers.
